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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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PRESENTED BY 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

9—178 



THE 






FAITHFUL PROMISER. 



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1 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious 
promises." — 2 Peter i. 4. 




BOSTON: 

HENRY HOYT, 9 CORNHILL. 

CHICAGO: ¥1. TOMLINSON. 



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THE FAITHFUL PROMISEE. 



It has often been felt a delightful exercise 
by the child of God, to take, night by night, 
an individual promise and plead it at the 
mercy-seat. Often are our prayers pointless, 
from not following, in this respect, the exam- 
ple of the sweet Psalmist of Israel, the Royal 
Promiser-pleader, who delighted to direct his 
finger to some particular "word" of the 
Faithful Promiser, saying, "Remember Thy 
word unto Thy servant, on which Thou hast 
caused me to hope !" 

The following are a few gleanings from the 
Promise Treasury, — a few crumbs from " the 
Master's Table," which may serve to help the 
thoughts in the hour of closet meditation, or 
the season of sorrow. 



FRES8 OF GEO. C. RAND AND AVERT, 

Printers to the City. 



1st Day 
of Month. 



{ 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" Come now, and let us reason together, saith the 
Lord : Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be 
as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, 
they shall be as wool." — Isaiah i. 18. 



Pardoning 
Grace. 



My soul! thy 
God summons thee 
to His audience 
chamber ! Infinite purity 
seeks to reason with infinite 
vileness! Deity stoops to 
speak to dust! Dread not 
the meeting. It is the most 
gracious as well as wondrous 
of all conferences. Jehovah 
Himself breaks silence ! He 
utters the best tidings a lost 
soul, or a lost world, can 
hear: "God was in Christ 



reconciling the world nnto 
Himself, not imputing nn- 
to men their trespasses." 
What! Scarlet sins and'mm- 
son sins ! and these all to be 
forgiven and forgotten! The 
just God "justifying" the 
unjust! — the mightiest of all 
beings, the kindest of all! 
Oh! what is there in thee to 
merit such love as this ? 
Thou mightest have known 
thy God only as the "con- 
suming fire," and had nothing 
before thee save " a fearful 
looking for of judgment!" 
This gracious conference bids 
thee dispel thy fears! It 
tells thee it is no longer a 
"fearful," but a blessed thing 



to fall into His hands ! Hast 
thou closed with these His 
overtures? Until thou art 
at peace with Him, happiness 
must he a stranger to thy 
hosom. Though thou hast 
all else beside, bereft of God 
thou must be "bereft in- 
deed." Lord! I come! As 
thy pardoning grace is freely 
tendered, so shall I freely 
accept it. May it be mine, 
even now, to listen to the 
gladdening accents, " Son ! 
Daughter! be of good cheer ! 
thy sins, which are many, 
are all forgiven thee !" 

•'REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



[2d Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



"As thy days, so shall thy strength be." 

Deut. xxxiii. 25. 



Needful 
Grace. 



God does not give 
grace till the hour 
of trial comes. But 
when it does come the amount 
of grace, and the nature of 
the special grace required are 
vouchsafed. My soul ! do 
not dwell with painful ap- 
prehension on the future. 
Do not anticipate coming 
sorrows ; perplexing thyself 
with the grace needed for 
future emergencies; to-mor- 
row will bring its promised 
grace along with to-morrow's 
trials. God, wishing to keep 



1 



His people humble, and de- 
pendent on himself, gives 
not a stock of grace ; He 
metes it out for every day's 
exigencies, that they may be 
constantly " travelling be- 
tween their own emptiness 
and Christ's fulness," — their 
own weakness and Christ's 
strength. But when the ex- 
igency comes, thou mayest 
safely trust an Almighty arm 
to bear thee through! Is 
there now some " thorn in 
the flesh" sent to lacerate 
thee ? Thou mayest have 
been entreating the Lord 
for its removal. Thy prayer 
has, doubtless, been heard 
and answered; but not in 



the way, perhaps, expected 
or desired by thee. The 
" thorn " may still be left to 
goad, the trial may still be 
left to buffet ; but " more 
grace " has been given to en- 
dure them. Oh ! how often 
have His people thus been 
led to glory in their infirm- 
ities and triumph in their 
afflictions, seeing the power 
of Christ rests more abund- 
antly upon them ! The 
strength which the hour of 
trial brings, often makes the 
Christian a wonder to him- 
self! 

"REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



9 



[3d Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" God is able to make all grace abound toward you ; 
that ye, always having all-sufficiency in all things, may 
abound to every good work." — 2 Cok. ix. 8. 



All-sufficient 
Grace. 



"All- SUFFI- 
CIENCY in all 
things !" Be- 
liever ! surely thou art " tho- 
roughly furnished!" Grace 
is no scanty thing, doled out 
in pittances. It is a glorious 
treasury, which the key of 
prayer can always unlock, 
but never empty. A fountain 
" full, flowing, ever flowing, 
overflowing." Mark these 
three ALL's in this precious 
promise. It is a threefold link 
in a golden chain, let down 



10 

from a throne of grace by a 
God of grace. ' ' All grace ! " 
— " all-sufficiency I " in " all 
things !" and to "abound!" 
Oh ! precious thought ! My 
wants cannot impoverish that 
inexhaustible treasury of 
grace! Myriads are hourly 
hanging on it, and drawing 
from it, and yet there is no 
diminution : " Out of that ful- 
ness all we too may receive, 
and grace for grace!" My 
soul, dost not thou love to 
dwell on that all-abounding 
grace ? Thine own insuffi- 
ciency in everything, met 
with an " all-sufficiency in all 
things." Grace in all circum- 
stances and situations, in all 



11 



vicissitudes and changes, in 
all the varied phases of the 
Christian's being. Grace in 
sunshine and in storm — in 
health and in sickness — in life 
and in death. Grace for the 
old believer and the young 
believer, — the tried believer, 
and the weak believer, and 
the tempted believer. Grace 
for duty, and grace in duty, — 
grace to carry the joyous cup 
with a steady hand, — grace 
to drink the bitter cup with 
an unmurmuring spirit, — 
grace to have prosperity sanc- 
tified, — grace to say, through 
tears, " Thy will be done ! " 

"REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



12 



[4th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" I will not leave you comfortless ; I will come to 
you." — John xiv. 10. 



Comforting 
Grace. 



Blessed Jesus! 
How thy pres- 
ence sanctifies 
trial, takes loneliness from 
the chamber of sickness, and 
the sting from the chamber 
of death ! Bright and Morn- 
ing Star! precious at all 
times, Thou art never so 
precious as in "the dark and 
cloudy day!" The bitter- 
ness of sorrow is well worth 
enduring to have thy pro- 
mised consolations. How 
well qualified, Thou Man of 



13 

Sorrows, to be my Com- 
forter ! How well fitted to 
dry my tears, Thou who 
didst shed so many thyself! 
What are my tears — my 
sorrows — my crosses — my 
losses, compared with thine, 
who didst shed first thy 
tears, and then thy blood 
for me! Mine are all de- 
served, and infinitely more 
than deserved. How differ- 
ent, Oh! Spotless Lamb of 
God, those pangs which rent 
thy guiltless bosom! How 
sweet those comforts Thou 
hast promised to the com- 
fortless, when I think of 
them as flowing from an 
Almighty Fellow-Sufferer, — 



14 

" A brother born for adver- 
sity," — the " Friend that 
sticketh closer than a broth- 
er ! " — one who can say, with 
all the refined sympathies of 
a holy exalted hnman natnre, 
" I know your sorrows ! " 
My soul ! calm thy griefs ! 
There is not a sorrow thou 
canst experience, but Jesus, 
in the treasury of grace, has 
an exact corresponding sol- 
ace : " In the multitude of 
the sorrows I have in my 
heart, thy comforts delight 
my soul!" 

"REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



15 



[5th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED/' 



"Satan hath desired to hare you, that he might sift 
you as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee, that thy 
faith fail not." — Luke xxii. 31, 32. 



Restraining 
Grace. 



What a scene 
does this unf old! 
Satan tempting 

— Jesus praying ! Satan 
sifting — Jesus pleading ! 
" The strong man assailing" 

— "the stronger than the 
strong " beating him back ! 
Believer! here is the past 
history and present secret 
of thy safety in the midst 
of temptation. An inter- 
ceding Saviour was at thy 
side, saying to every threat- 



16 

ening wave, "Thus far shalt 
thou go, and no farther!" 
God often permits His people 
to be on the very verge of 
the precipice, to remind them 
of their own weakness; but 
never further than the verge ! 
The restraining hand and 
grace of Omnipotence are 
ready to rescue them. " Al- 
though he fall, yet shall he 
not be cast down utterly; 
(and why?) for the Lord 
upholdeth him with His right 
hand!" The wolf may be 
prowling for his prey; but 
what can he do when the 
Shepherd is always there, 
tending with the watchful 
eye that "neither slumbers 



IT 

nor sleeps ? " Who cannot 
subscribe to the testimony, 
" When my foot slipped, thy 
mercy, O Lord! held me 
up?" Who can look back 
on his past pilgrimage, and 
fail to see it crowded with 
Ebenezers, with this inscrip- 
tion: "Thou hast delivered 
my soul from death, mine 
eyes from tears, and my feet 
from falling ? " My soul, 
where wouldst thou have 
been this day, hadst thou not 
been "kept by the power of 
God ? " 

"REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



18 



[6th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED/' 



" I will heal their backslidings." — Hosea xiv. 4. 

Wandering 
again! And has 
He not left me 



Restoring 
Grace. 



to perish? Stumbling and 
straying on the dark moun- 
tains, away from the Shep- 
herd's eye and the Shep- 
herd's fold, shall He not 
leave the erring wanderer 
to the fruit of his own ways, 
and his truant heart to go 
hopelessly onward in its 
career of guilty estrange- 
ment ? " My thoughts," 
says God, " are not as your 



19 

thoughts, neither are your 
ways my ways." Man would 
say, " Go, perish! ungrateful 
apostate ! " God says, " Re- 
turn, ye backsliding chil- 
dren!" The Shepherd will 
not, cannot suffer the sheep 
to perish He has purchased 
with His own blood. How 
wondrous His forbearance 
towards it ! — tracking its 
guilty steps, and ceasing not 
the pursuit till He lays the 
wanderer on His shoulders 
and returns with it to His 
fold rejoicing ! My soul ! 
why increase by farther 
departures thine own dis- 
tance from the fold ? Why 
lengthen the dreary road 



20 

thy gracious Shepherd has 
to traverse in bringing thee 
back? Delay not thy re- 
turn ! Provoke no longer 
His patience ; venture no 
farther on forbidden ground. 
He waits with outstretched 
arms to welcome thee once 
more to His bosom. Be 
humble for the past, trust 
Him for the future. Think 
of thy former backslidings, 
and tremble ; think of His 
forbearance, and be filled 
with holy gratitude ; think 
of His promised grace, " and 
take courage." 

« REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



21 



[7th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



"He which hath begun a good work in you, will 
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." — Phil. i. 6. 



Sanctifying 
Grace. 



Reader ! is the 
good work be- 
gun in thee ? 
Art thou holy ? Is sin being 
crucified? Are thy heart's 
idols, one by one, abolished ? 
Is the world less to thee, and 
eternity more to thee ? Is 
more of thy Saviour's image 
impressed on thy character, 
and thy Saviour's love more 
enthroned in thy heart ? Is 
" Salvation " to thee more 
"the one thing needful?" 
Oh! take heed! there can 



22 

be no middle ground, no 
standing still ; or if it be so, 
thy position must be a false 
one. The Saviour's blood 
is not more necessary to 
give thee a title to heaven, 
than His Spirit to give thee 
a meetness for it. " If any 
man have not the Spirit of j 
Christ, he is none of Ms ! ' 
" Onwards ! " should be thy 
motto. There is no standing 
still in the life of faith. " The 
man," says Augustine, "who 
says, 'Enough] that man's 
soul is lost ! " Let this be the 
superscription in all thy ways 
and doings, " Holiness to the 
Lord." Let the monitory 
word exercise over thee its 



habitual power, " Without 
holiness no man shall see 
the Lord." Moreover, re- 
member that to be holy, is 
to be happy. The two are 
convertible terms. Holiness! 
It is the secret and spring of 
the joy of angels ; and the 
more of holiness attained on 
earth — the nearer and closer 
my walk is with God — the 
more of a sweet earnest shall 
I have of the bliss that awaits 
me in a holy heaven. Oh! 
my soul, let it be thy sacred 
ambition to " be holy!" 

" REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



24 



[8th Day. 

HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; 
they shall run, and not be weary ; they shall walk, 
and not faint." — Isaiah xl. 31. 



Keviving 
Grace. 



"Wilt thou not 
revive us, Oh 
Lord?" My soul! 
art thou conscious of thy de- 
clining state ? Is thy walk 
less with God, thy frame 
less heavenly? Hast thou 
less conscious nearness to 
the mercy-seat, — diminished 
communion with thy Saviour ? 
Is prayer less a privilege 
than it has been? — the pul- 
sations of spiritual life more 
languid, and fitful, and spas- 



25 

modic? — the bread of life 
less relished ? — the seen, and 
the temporal, and the tangi- 
ble, displacing the nnseen 
and the eternal ? Art thou 
sinking down into this state 
of drowsy self-contentment, 
this conformity-life with the 
world, forfeiting all the hap- 
piness of true religion, and 
risking and endangering the 
better life to come ? Arise ! 
call upon thy God ! " Wilt 
thou not revive us, O Lord ? " 
He might have returned 
nothing but the withering 
repulse, " How often would 
I have gathered thee; but 
thou wouldst not ! " — "Eph- 
raim is joined to idols : let 



26 

him alone ! " But in wrath 
He remembers mercy. ' ' They 
shall revive as the corn." 
"The mouth of the Lord 
hath spoken it." How and 
where is reviving grace to 
he found? He gives thee, 
in this precious promise, the 
key. It is on thy bended 
Jcnees — by a return to thy 
deserted and unfrequented 
chamber ! "They that wait 
upon the Lord ! " "Wait on 
the Lord ; be of good cour- 
age, and He shall strengthen 
thine heart ; wait, I say, on 
the Lord ! " 

" REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



27 



[9 th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PRO^!SID/ ? 



" The righteous shall hold on his way." — Job xvii. 9. 

Keader ! how 
comforting to 
thee amid the 



Persevering 
Grace, 



ebbings and flowings of thy 
changing history, to know 
that the change is all with 
thee, and not with thy God ! 
Thy spiritual bark may be 
tossed on the waves of temp- 
tation, in many a dark mid- 
night. Thou mayest think 
thy pilot hath left thee, and 
be ready continually to say, 
" Where is my God ? " But 
fear not ! The bark which 
bears thy spiritual destinies 



28 

is in better hands than thine ; 
a golden chain of covenant 
love links it to the eternal 
throne ! That chain can 
never snap asnnder. He 
who holds it in His hand 
gives thee this as the pledge 
of thy safety, — "Because I 
live, ye shall live also." 
" Why art thou then cast 
down, O my soul ? and why 
art thou disquieted within 
me ? hope thou in God ! ? 
Thou wilt assuredly ride out 
these stormy surges, and 
reach the desired haven. But 
be faithful with thyself: see 
that there be nothing to hin- 
der or impede thy growth in 
grace. Think how little may 



29 

retard thy progress. One 
sin indulged — one tempta- 
tion tampered with — one 
bosom traitor, may cost thee 
many a bitter hour and bitter 
tear, by separating between 
thee and thy God. Make it 
thy daily prayer, " Search 
me, O God, and know my 
heart ; try me, and know my 
thoughts: and see if there 
be any wicked way in me, 
and lead me in the way 
everlasting." 

« REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



30 



[10th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 




" I have the keys of hell and of death." — Rev. i. 18. 

And from whom 
could dying grace 
come so welcome, 
as from thee, O blessed 
Jesus ? Not only is thy 
name, " The Abolisher of 
Death," but thou didst thy- 
self die ! Thou hast sancti- 
fied the grave by thine own 
presence, and divested it of 
all its terrors. My soul ! art 
thou at times afraid of this, 
thy last enemy ? If the rest 
of thy pilgrimage-way be 
peaceful and unclouded, — 
rests there a dark and por- 



31 

teutons shadow over tlie ter- 
minating portals ? Fear not ! 
When that dismal entrance 
is reached, He who has " the 
keys of the grave and of 
death " suspended at His 
golden girdle, will impart 
grace to bear thee through. 
It is the messenger of peace. 
Thy Savionr calls thee ! The 
prompting of nature, when 
at first thou seest the dark- 
ening waves, may he that 
of the affrighted disciples, 
when they said, "It is a 
spirit, and cried out for 
fear!" But a gentle voice 
will he heard high above the 
storm, " It is I ! Be not 
afraid ! " Death, indeed, as 



32 

the wages of sin, must, even 
by the believer, be regarded 
as an enemy. But, Oh! 
blessed thought, it is thy last 
enemy, — the cause of thy last 
tear. In a few brief moments 
after that tear is shed, thy 
God will be wiping every 
vestige of it away! "O 
Death! where is thy sting? 
O Grave ! where is thy vic- 
tory? Thanks be to God, 
which giveth us the victory 
through our Lord Jesus 
Christ !" Welcome, van- 
quished foe! — Birthday of 
heaven!--" To die is gain !" 

« REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



33 



[11th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFOL THAT PROMISED." 



" The Lord will give grace and glory. " 

Psalm lxxxiv. 11. 



After Grace, 
Glory. 



Oh! happy 
day, when this 
toilsome war- 
fare will all be ended, Jordan 
crossed, Canaan entered, the 
legion-enemies of the wil- 
derness no longer dreaded; 
sorrow, sighing, death, and, 
worst of all, sin, no more 
either to be felt or feared ! 
Here is the terminating link 
in the golden chain of the 
everlasting covenant. It 
began with predestination; 
it ends with glorification. It 



34 

I began with sovereign grace 
in a bypast eternity, and no 
link will be awanting till the 
ransomed spirit be presented 
faultless before the throne! 
Grace and glory ! If the 
earnest be sweet, what must 
be the reality ? If the wil- 
derness table contain such 
rich provision, what must be 
the glories of the eternal 
banqueting house ? Oh ! my 
soul, make sure of thine in- 
terest in the one, as the 
blessed prelude to the other. 
Having " access by faith into 
this grace" thou canst re- 
joice in hope of the glory of 
God ; for "whom Us justifies, 
them He also glorifies ! " Has 



35 

grace begun in thee ? Canst 
thou mark — though it should 
be but the drops of the in- 
cipient rill which is to ter- 
minate in such an ocean — 
the tiny grains which are to 
accumulate and issue in such 
" an exceeding weight of 
glory ? " Delay not the 
momentous question ! The 
day of offered grace is on 
the wing ; its hours are fast 
numbering; and, "No grace, 
no glory !" 

" REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



36 



[12th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" I will pray the Father, and He shall give you 
another Comforter, that He may abide with yon for- 
ever." — John xiv. 16. 



Another 
Comforter. 



Blessed Spirit of 
all grace ! how oft 
have I grieved 
Thee ! resisted thy dealings, 
quenched thy strivings ; and 
yet art Thou still pleading 
with me ! Oh ! let me 
realize more than I do the 
need of thy gracious influ- 
ences. Ordinances, sermons, 
communions, providential 
dispensations, are nothing 
without thy life-giving 
power. u It is the Spirit 



37 

that quickeneth." " No 
man can call Jesns Lord, 
but by the Holy Ghost." 
Church of the living God! 
is not this one cause of thy 
deadness ? My soul ! is not 
this the secret of thy lan- 
guishing frames, repeated 
declensions, uneven walk, 
and sudden falls, that the 
influences of the Holy Ghost 
are undervalued and un- 
sought ? Pray for the out- 
pouring of this blessed Agent 
for the world's renovation, 
and thine own. "I will 
pour out my Spirit upon all 
flesh," is the precursor of 
millennial bliss. Jesus! draw 
near, in thy mercy, to this 



38 

torpid heart, as Thou didst 
of old to thy mourning dis- 
ciples, and breathe upon it, 
and say, "Receive ye the 
Holy Ghost." It is the 
mightiest of all boons; but, 
like the sun in the heavens, 
it is the freest of all : " For 
if ye, being evil, know how 
to give good gifts unto your 
children: how much more 
shall your heavenly Father 
give the Holy Spirit to them 
that ask him ! " 

"EEMEMBEE THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



39 



[13th Day. 

"HE IS FABTHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" All things work together for good to them that 
love God, to them who are the called according to His 
purpose/' — Rom. yiii. 28. 

My soul ! be 
still! thou art 
in the hands of 



Providential 
Overruling. 



thy Covenant God. Were 
these strange vicissitudes in 
thy history the result of 
accident, or chance, thou 
mightest well he overwhelm- 
ed; hut "all things" andfte 
thing (be what it may) which 
may be now disquieting thee, 
is one of these " all things " 
that are so working mysteri- 
ously for thy good. Trust 
thy God ! He will not de- 
ceive thee, — thy interests are 



40 

with Him in safe custody. 
When sight says, " All these 
things are against me," let 
faith rebuke the hasty con- 
clusion, and say, "Shall not 
the Judge of all the earth do 
right ? " How often does 
God hedge up our way with 
thorns, to elicit simple trust! 
How seldom can we see all 
things so working for our 
good ! But it is better dis- 
cipline to believe it. Oh ! for 
faith amid frowning provi- 
dences, to say, " I know that 
thy judgments are good ;" 
and, relying in the dark, to 
exclaim, " Though He slay 
me, yet will I trust in Him ! " 
Blessed Jesus! to Thee are 



41 

committed the reins of this 
universal empire. The same 
hand that was once nailed to 
the cross, is now wielding the 
sceptre on the throne, — " all 
power given unto thee in 
heaven and in earth." How 
can I doubt the wisdom, and 
faithfulness, and love, of the 
most mysterious earthly deal- 
ing, when I know that the 
roll of providence is thus in 
the hands of Him who has 
given the mightiest pledge 
Omnipotence could give of 
His tender interest in my 
soul's well-being, by giving 
Himself for me ? 

" REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



42 



[14th Day. 

"HE IS FAITOTL THAT PROMISED." 



" All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, 
unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies." 
— Psalm xxv. 10. 



Safe 
Walking. 



The paths of the 
Lord! My soul! 
never follow thine 
own paths. If thou dost so, 
thou wilt he in danger often 
of following sight rather than 
faith, — choosing the evil, and 
refusing the good. But "com- 
mit thy way unto the Lord, 
and He shall hring it to 
pass." Let this he thy prayer. 
" Shew me thy ways, O Lord; 
teach me thy paths." Oh! 
for Caleb's spirit, " tvholly to 
follow the Lord my God," — 



43 

to follow Him when self 
must be sacrificed, and hard- 
ship must be borne, and trials 
await me. To "walk with 
God," — to ask in simple faith, 
" What wouldest thou have 
me to do ? " — to have no will 
of my own, save this, that 
God's will is to be my will. 
Here is safety, — here is hap- 
piness. Fearlessly follow the 
Guiding Pillar. He will 
lead you by a right way, 
though it may be by a way 
of hardship, and crosses, and 
losses, and privations, to the 
city of habitation. Oh ! the 
blessedness of thus lying pas- 
sive in the hands of God, 
saying, " Undertake thou for 



44 

me!" — dwelling with holy 
gratitude on past mercies and 
interpositions — taking these 
as pledges of future faithful- 
ness and love — hearing His 
voice behind us, amid life's 
manifold perplexities, ex- 
claiming, " This is the way ; 
walk ye in it!" "Happy," 
surely, " are every people 
who are in such a case ! " 
Happy, reader, will it be 
for thee, if thou canst form 
the resolve in a strength 
greater than thine own : 
"This God is my God for 
ever and ever; He will be 
my Guide even unto death !" 

« REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



45 



[15th Day. 

"HE SS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" As many as I love I rebuke and chasten." 

Rev. iii. 19. 

Sorrowing 
believer! what 
couldest thou 



Love in 
Chastisement. 



wish more than this ? Thy 
furnace is severe ; but look 
at this assurance of Him who 
lighted it. Love is the fuel 
that feeds its flames ! Its 
every spark is love ! Kin- 
dled by a Father's hand, and 
designed as a special pledge 
of a Father's love. How many 
of His dear children has He 
so rebuked and chastened; 
and all, all for one reason, " I 
love them ! " The myriads in 
glory have passed through 



46 

these furnace-fires, — there 
they were chosen, — there 
they were purified, sancti- 
fied, and made " vessels meet 
for the Master's use;" the 
dross and the alloy purged, 
that the pure metal might 
remain. And art thou to 
claim exemption from the 
same discipline? Art thou 
to think it strange concern- 
ing these same fiery trials 
that may be trying thee ? 
Rather exult in them as thine 
adoption - privilege. Envy 
not those who are strangers 
to the refining flames, — who 
are " without chastisement ; " 
rather, surely, the severest 
discipline with a Father's love, 



47 

than the fullest earthly cup 
without that Father's smile. 
Oh ! for grace to say, 
when the furnace is hottest, 
and the rod sorest, "Even 
so, Father ! " And what, 
after all, is the severest of thy 
chastisements in comparison 
with what thy sins have de- 
served ? Dost thou murmur 
under a Father's correcting 
love ? What would it have 
heen to have stood the wrath 
of an unpropitiated Judge, 
and that, too, for ever? 
Surely, in the light of eternity, 
the heaviest pang of earth is 
indeed a "light affliction !" 

« REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



48 



[16th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" If need be." — 1 Peter i. 6. 

Theee gra- 
cious words! 
Not one of 



A Condition in 
Chastisement. 



all my tears shed for nought ! 
Not one stroke of the rod 
unneeded, or that might have 
been spared ! Thy heavenly 
Father loves thee too much, 
and too tenderly, to bestow 
harsher correction than thy 
case requires ? Is it loss of 
health, or loss of wealth, or 
loss of beloved friends ? Be 
still! — there was a need he. 
We are no judges of what 
that " need be " is ; often 



49 

through aching hearts we 
are forced to exclaim, " Thy 
judgments are a great deep! " 
But God here pledges him- 
self, that there will not be 
one redundant thorn in the 
believer's chaplet of suffer- 
ing. No burden too heavy 
will be laid on him ; and no 
sacrifice too great exacted 
from him. He will " temper 
the wind to the shorn lamb." 
Whenever the "need be" 
has accomplished its end, 
then the rod is removed — the 
chastisement suspended — the 
furnace quenched. " If need 
be ! " Oh ! what a pillow on 
which to rest thy aching 
head, — that there is not a 



50 

drop in all thy bitter cup but 
what a God of love saw to 
be absolutely necessary ! Wilt 
thou not trust Him, even 
though thou canst not trace 
the mystery of His dealings ? 
Not too curiously prying 
into the " Why it is ? " or, 
" Mow it is ? " but satisfied 
that "So it is," and, there- 
fore, that all must be well ! 
"Although thou sayest, thou 
canst not see Him, yet judg- 
ment is before Him, therefore 
trust thou in Him ! " 

« REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



51 



[17th Day. 

"HE SS FAITHFOL THAT PROMISED." 



" A bruised reed stall He not break, and smoking 
flax shall He not quench." — Matt. sii. 28. 

Will Jesus ac- 
cept such a heart 
as mine ? this 



Strength to 
the Weak. 



erring, treacherous, traitor 
heart ? The past ! how many 
forgotten vows — broken cov- 
enants — prayerless days ! 
How often have I made new 
resolutions, and as often has 
the reed succumbed to the 
first blast of temptation, and 
the burning flax been well 
nigh quenched by guilty 
omissions and guiltier com- 
missions ! Oh ! my soul ! 



52 

thou art low indeed, — the 
things that remain seem 
" ready to die." But thy 
Saviour-God will not give 
thee "over unto death." 
The reed is bruised ; but He 
will not pluck it up by the 
roots. The flax is reduced 
to a smoking ember; but 
He will fan the decaying 
flame. Why wound thy lov- 
ing Saviour's heart by these 
repeated declensions? He 
will not — cannot give thee up. 
Go, mourn thy weakness 
and unbelief. Cry unto the 
Strong for strength. Weary 
and faint one ! thou hast an 
Omnipotent arm to lean on. 
"He fainteth not, neither is 



53 

weary ! " Listen to His own 
gracious assurance : " Fear 
not, for I am with thee. Be 
not dismayed, for I am thy 
God. I will strengthen thee ; 
yea, I will help thee ; yea, I 
will uphold thee with the 
right hand of my righteous- 
ness !" Leaving all thy false 
props and refuges, he this 
thy resolve: "In the Lord 
put I my trust : why say ye 
to my soul, Flee as a hird to 
your mountain ? " 



" REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



54 



[18th Day. 

"HE iS FAiTHFOL THAT PROMISED." 



" Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise east 
out." — John vi. 37. 



Encouragement 

to the 

Desponding. 



"Cast out!" 
My soul! how 
oft might this 
have been thy 
history ! Thou hast east off 
thy God, — might He not oft 
have "cast out" thee? Yes! 
cast thee out as fuel for the 
fire of His wrath, — a sap- 
less, fruitless, cumberer. And 
yet, notwithstanding all thine 
ungrateful requital for His 
unmerited forbearance, He 
is still declaring, "As I live, 
saith the Lord, I have no 



55 

pleasure in the death of him 
that dieth." Thy sins may 
be legionlike, — the sand of 
the sea may be their befitting 
type, — the thought of their 
turpitude and aggravation 
may be ready to overwhelm 
thee ; but be still ! thy patient 
God waits to be gracious ! 
Oh ! be deeply humbled and 
softened because of thy guilt, 
resolve to dedicate thyself 
anew to His service, and so 
coming, "He will by no means 
cast thee out !" Despond not 
by reason of former short- 
comings, — thy sins are great, 
but thy Saviour's merits are 
greater. He is willing to 
forget all the past, and sink 



56 

it in oblivion, if there be 
present love, and the promise 
of future obedience. "Simon, 
son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? " 
Ah! how different is God's 
verdict from man's! After 
such sins as thine, man's 
sentence would have been, 
"I" will in nowise receive!" 
But " it is better to fall into 
the hands of God, than into 
the hands of man ; " for He 
says : " I will in nowise cast 
out ! " 

"REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



57 



[19th Day. 

HE IS FAiTHFil THAT PB0M1SED." 



" Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto 
you, not as the world giveth." — John xii. 27. 



Peace in 
Believing. 



"Thou wilt keep 
him in perfect 
peace whose mind 
is stayed on Thee." " Per- 
fect peace!" — what a Messed 
attainment ! My soul ! is it 
thine ? Sure I am it is not, 
if thou art seeking it in a 
perishable world, or in the 
perishable creature, or in thy 
perishable self. Although 
thou hast all that the world 
would call enviable and 
happy, unless thou hast peace 
in God, and ivith God, all 
else is unwortjay of the name ; 



58 

— a spurious thing, which 
the first breath of adversity 
will shatter, and the hour of 
death utterly annihilate ! Per- 
fect peace ! What is it ? It 
is the peace of forgiveness. 
It is the peace arising out of 
a sense of God reconciled 
through the blood of the 
everlasting covenant, — rest- 
ing sweetly on the bosom, 
and the work of Jesus, — to 
Him committing thine eter- 
nal all. My soul ! stay thy- 
self on God, that so this 
blessed peace may be thine. 
Thou hast tried the world. 
It has deceived thee. Prop 
after prop of earthly scaffold- 
ing has yielded, and tottered, 



59 

and fallen. Has thy God 
ever done so ? Ah! this false 
and counterfeit world-peace 
may do well for the world's 
work, and the world's day of 
prosperity. But test it in 
the hour of sorrow ; and 
what can it do for thee when 
most it is needed ? On the 
other hand, what though 
thou hast no other blessing 
on earth to call thine own ? 
Thou art rich indeed, if thou 
canst look upwards to heaven, 
and say with " unpresumptu- 
ous smile," "I am at peace 
with God." 

" REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



60 



[20th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



"Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord." 

Rev. xiv. 13. 



Bliss 
in Dying. 



My soul! is this 
blessedness thine 
in prospect ? Art 
thou ready, if called this night 
to lie down on thy death- 
pillow, sweetly to fall asleep 
in Jesus ? What is the sting 
of death ? It is sin. Is 
death, then, to thee, robbed 
of its sting, by having list- 
ened to the gracious accents 
of pardoning love: "Be of 
good cheer, thy sins, which 
are many, are all forgiven 
thee ? " If thou hast made 



61 

up thy peace with God, 
resting on the work and 
atoning Mood of his dear 
Son, then is the Last Enemy 
divested of all his terror, and 
thou canst say in sweet com- 
posure, of thy dying couch 
and dying hour: "I will 
hoth lay me down in peace 
and sleep, because Thou, 
Lord, makest me to dwell in 
safety ! " Eeader ! ponder 
that solemn question, " Am 
I ready to die ? Am I living 
as I should wish I had done 
when that last hour arrives? " 
And when shall it arrive? 
To-morrow is not thine. 
" Yerily, there may be but a 
step between thee and death." 



62 

Oh ! solve the question speed- 
ily, — risk no doubts and no 
peradventure. Every day is 
proclaiming anew the lesson : 
"The race is not to the swift, 
nor the battle to the strong." 
Seek to live, so that that hour 
cannot come upon thee too 
soon, or too unexpectedly. 
Live a dying life ! How 
blessed to live, — how blessed 
to die, — with the conscious- 
ness that there may be but 
a step between thee and 
glory! 

"REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



63 



[21st Day. 

"HE SS FAITHFUL THAT PBOMISED." 




" In due season we shall reap, if we faint not." 

Gal. vi. 9. 

Believer ! all 
the glory of thy 
salvation belongs 
to Jesus, — none to thyself; 
every jewel in thine eternal 
crown is His, — purchased by 
His blood, and polished by 
His Spirit. The confession 
of time will be the ascription 
of all eternity : " By the 
grace of God I am what I 
am!" But though "all be 
of grace," thy God calls thee 
to personal strenuousness in 
the work of thy high calling ; 



64 

— to "labor," to "fight," to 
"wrestle," to "agonize;" and 
the heavenly reaping will be 
in proportion to the earthly 
sowing: "He that soweth 
sparingly, shall reap also 
sparingly; and he that soweth 
bountifully, shall reap also 
bountifully!" What an in- 
centive to holy living, and 
increased spiritual attain- 
ments! My soul! wouldst 
thou be a star shining high 
and bright in the firmament 
of glory ? — wouldst thou re- 
ceive the ten-talent recom- 
pense ? Then be not weary. 
Gird on thine armor for 
fresh conquests. Be gaining 
daily some new victory over 



65 

sin. Deny thyself. Be a 
willing cross-bearer for thy 
Lord's sake. Do good to all 
men as thon hast opportun- 
ity ; be patient under provo- 
cation, "slow to wrath," re- 
signed in trial. Let the 
world take knowledge of 
thee that thou art wearing 
Christ's livery, and bearing 
Christ's spirit, and sharing 
Christ's Cross. And when 
the reaping time comes, He 
who has promised that the 
cup of cold water cannot go 
unrecompensed, will not 
suffer thee to lose thy re- 
ward! 

" REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



66 



[22d Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" The days of thy mourning shall be ended." 

Isaiah lx. 20. 



An End of 
Weeping. 



Christ's people 
are a weeping- 
band, though 
there be much in this lovely 
world to make them joyous 
and happy. Yet, when they 
think of sin, — their own sin, 
— and the unblushing sins 
of a world in which their 
God is dishonored — need 
we wonder at their tears? — 
that they should be called 
"Mourners," and their pil- 
grimage-home a " Y alley of 
Tears?" Bereavement, and 
sickness, and poverty, and 






67 

death, following the track of 
sin, add to their mourning 
experience; and with many 
of God's best beloved, one 
tear is scarce dried when 
another is ready to flow ! 
Mourners ! rejoice ! When 
the reaping time comes, the 
weeping time ends ! When 
the white robe, and the 
golden harp are bestowed, 
every remnant of the sack- 
cloth attire is removed. The 
moment the pilgrim, whose 
forehead is here furrowed 
with woe, bathes it in the 
crystal river of life, — that 
moment the pangs of a life- 
time of sorrow are eternally 
forgotten! Eeader! if thou 



68 

art one of these careworn 
ones, the days of thy mourn- 
ing are numbered! A few 
more throbbings of this 
aching heart, and then the 
angel who proclaims "time," 
shall proclaim also, sorrow, 
and sighing, and mourning, 
to "be no longer!" Seek 
now to mourn thy sins more 
than thy sorrows ; reserve thy 
bitterest tears for forgetful- 
ness of thy dear Lord. The 
saddest and sorest of all be- 
reavements, is when the sins 
which have separated thee 
from Him, evoke the anguish- 
cry, "Where is my God ?" 

"REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



69 



[23d Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED/ 5 ' 



"Behold, I come quickly." — Rev. iii. 11. 

"Eyen so! come 
Lord Jesus ! " 
" Why tarry the 



A Speedy 
Coming. 



wheels of thy chariot ? " Six 
thousand years this world 
has rolled on, getting hoary 
with age, and wrinkled with 
sins and sorrows. A waiting 
Church sees the long-drawn 
shadows of twilight announc- 
ing, "The Lord is at hand." 
Prepare, my soul, to meet 
Him. Oh! happy days, when 
thine adorable Redeemer, so 
long dishonored and despised, 
shall be publicly enthroned, 



70 

in presence of an assembled 
universe, crowned Lord of 
All, glorified in His saints, 
satisfied in the fruits of His 
soul's travail, destroying His 
enemies with the brightness 
of His coming — the light- 
ning-glance of His wrath, — 
causing the hearts of His 
exulting people to "rejoice 
with joy unspeakable and 
full of glory." Prepare, my 
soul, to meet Him! Let it 
be a joyous thought to thee, 
— thy " blessed hope," — the 
meeting of thine Elder 
Brother. Stand oftentimes 
on the watch-tower to catch 
the first streak of that com- 
ing brightness, — the first 



71 

murmur of these chariot 
wheels. The world is now in 
preparation! It is rocking 
on its worn-out axle. There 
are voices on every side pro- 
claiming, "He cometh! He 
cometh! to judge the earth." 
Reader! art thou among the 
numher of those who " love 
His appearing?" Rememher 
the attitude of His expectant 
saints! "Blessed are those 
servants whom the Lord, 
when He cometh, will find 
Watching!" 

» REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



72 



[24th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" At evening-time it shall be light." — Zech. xiv. 7. 

How inspiring the 
thought of coming 
glory! How would 



Eventide 
Light. 



we rise above our sins, and 
sorrows, and sufferings, if we 
could live under the power of 
"a world to come ! " Were 
faith to take at all times its 
giant leap beyond a soul- 
trammelling earth, and re- 
member its brighter destiny. 
If it could stand on its Pisgah 
Mount, and look above and 
beyond the mists and vapors 
of this land of shadows, and 
rest on the "better country." 



73 

But, alas! in spite of ourselves, 
the wings ofttimes refuse to 
soar — the spirit droops — 
guilty fears depress — sin 
dims and darkens — God's 
providences seem to frown 
— God's ways are misinter- 
preted — the Christian belies 
his name and his destiny. 
But, "at eventide it shall be 
light." — The material sun, 
which wades through clouds 
and a troubled sky, sets often 
in a couch of lustrous gold ! 
So, when the sun of life is 
setting, many a ray of light 
will shoot athwart memory's 
darkened sky, and many 
mysterious dealings of the 
wilderness will then elicit an 



74 

"All is well!" How fre- 
quently is the presence and 
upholding grace of Jesus 
especially felt and acknow- 
ledged at that hour; and 
griefs and misgivings hushed 
with His own gentle accents, 
"Fear not! it is I; he not 
afraid." A triumphant death- 
hed! It is no unmeaning 
word ; the eye is lighted with 
holy lustre, the tongue with 
holy rapture, as if the harps 
of heaven were stealing on it. 
My soul! may such a life's 
evening-tide he thine ! 

"REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



75 



[25th Day. 

"HE 83 FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" What I do thou knowest not now ; but thou shalt 
know hereafter." — John xiii. 7. 



Heavenly 
Illumination. 



As the natural 
sun sometimes 
sinks in clouds 
so, occasionally, the Chris- 
tian who has a bright rising, 
and a brighter meridian, sets 
in gloom. It is not always 
"light" at his evening-time; 
but this we know, that when 
the day of immortality breaks, 
the last vestige of earth's 
shadows will for ever flee 
away. To the closing hour 
of time, providence may be 
to him a baffling enigma; 



76 



but ere the first hour has 
struck on heaven's chron- 
ometer, all will be clear. 
My soul! "in God's light 
thou shalt see light;" the 
Book of His decrees is a 
sealed book now, — "A great 
deep" is all the explanation 
thou canst often give of His 
judgments ; the why and the 
wherefore He seems to keep 
from us, to test our faith, to 
discipline us in trustful sub- 
mission, and lead us to say, 
"Thy will be done!" But 
rejoice in that hereafter- 
light which awaits thee! 
Now we see through a glass 
darkly ; but then, face to face. 
In the great mirror of eter- 



77 

nity all the events of this 
chequered scene will be re- 
flected ; the darkest of them 
will then be seen to be bright 
with mercy, — the severest 
dispensations, " only the 
severer aspects of His love!" 
Pry not, then, too curiously ; 
pronounce not too censori- 
ously on God's dealings with 
thee. Wait with patience 
till the grand day of disclo- 
sures; one confession shall 
then burst from every tongue, 
" Eightous art thou, O 
Lord ! " 

" REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



78 



[26th Day. 

"Hi IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED/' 



" I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that 
where I am, there ye may be also." — John xiv. 3. 



A Glorious 
Reunion. 



If the meeting 
of a long absent 
friend or brother 
on earth he a joyous event, 
what, my soul, must be the 
joy of thy union with this 
Brother of brothers, this 
Friend of friends! "I will 
come again ! " Oh ! what an 
errand of love, what a pro- 
mised honor and dignity is 
this! — His saints to share, 
not His heaven only, hut 
His immediate presence. 
" Where I am, there ye shall 



79 

be also ! " " Father, I will (it 
was His dying wish, — a 
wondrous codicil in that 
testamentary prayer) that 
those whom Thou hast given 
me be with me where lam" 
Happy reunion ! Blessed 
Saviour, if thy presence be 
so sweet on a sin-stricken 
earth, and when known only 
by the invisible eye of faith, 
what must be that presence 
in a sinless heaven, unfolded 
in all its unutterable loveli- 
ness and glory! Happy re- 
union ! it will be a meeting 
of the whole ransomed fam- 
ily — the Head with all its 
members — the Tine with all 
its branches — the Shepherd 



80 

with all His flock — the Elder 
Brother with all His kins- 
men. Oh! the joy, too, of 
mutual recognition among 
the death-divided — ties snapt 
asunder on earth, now indis- 
solubly renewed — severed 
friendships reunited — the tri- 
umph of love complete — love 
binding brother with brother, 
and friend with friend, and 
all to the Elder Brother ! 
My soul! what thinkest thou 
of this heaven? Bemember 
who it is that Jesus says 
shall sit with Him upon His 
throne, — "Him that over- 
cometh ! " 

"REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



81 



[27th Day. 

"Hi is faithful that promises." 



And I will betroth thee unto me for ever.' 
Hosea ii. 19. 



Everlasting 
Espousals. 



How won- 
drous and va- 
ried are the 
figures which Jesus employs 
to express the tenderness of 
His covenant love! My soul! 
thy Saviour-God hath "mar- 
ried thee!" Wouldst thou 
know the hour of thy be- 
trothment? Go hack into 
the depths of a by-past eter- 
nity, before the world was ; 
then and there thine espous- 
als were contracted : " I have 
loved thee with an everlast- 



82 

ing love." Soon shall the 
bridal hour arrive, when 
thine absent Lord shall come 
to welcome His betrothed 
bride into His royal palace. 
" The Bridegroom tarrieth; " 
but see that thou dost not 
slumber and sleep ! Surely 
there is much all around de- 
manding the girded loins, 
and the burning lamps. At 
" midnight ! " (the hour when 
He is least expected) the cry 
may be — shall be heard, — 
" Behold, the Bridegroom 
cometh ! " My soul! has this 
mystic union been formed 
between thee and thy Lord ? 
Canst thou say, in humble 
assurance of thine affiance in 



83 

Him, "My beloved is mine, 
and I am His!" If so, great 
— unspeakably great — are 
the glories which await thee ! 
Thy dowry, as the bride of 
Christ, is all that Omnipo- 
tence can bestow, and all that 
a feeble creature can receive. 
In the prospect of those 
glorious nuptials, thou need- 
est dread no pang of widow- 
hood. What God hath joined 
together, no created power 
can take asunder; He be- 
troths thee, and it is — "for 
ever ! " 

" BEMEMBEB THIS WOED UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



84 



[28th Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED/' 



" This corruptible must put on incorruption." 

1 Cor. xv. 53. 



A Joyful 

Resurrection, 



Marvel of 
marvels! The 
sleeping ashes 
starting at the tones of the 
archangel's trumpet ! — the 
dishonored dust rising a glo- 
rified body, like its risen 
Lord's ! At death, the soul's 
bliss is perfect in kind ; but 
it is not complete in degree, 
until reunited to the taber- 
nacle it has left behind to 
mingle with the sods of the 
valley. But tread lightly on 
that grave ; it contains pre- 
cious, because ransomed dust ! 



85 

My body, as well as my 
spirit, was included in the 
redemption-price of Calvary ; 
and "them also which sleep 
in Jesus will God bring with 
Him." Oh ! blessed Jubilee- 
day of creation, when Christ's 
"dead men shall arise;" — 
when the summons shall 
sound forth, "Awake, and 
sing, ye that dwell in the 
dust ! " All the joys of that 
resurrection morn we cannot 
tell ; but its chief glory we 
do know, — " When He shall 
appear, we shall be like Him ; 
for we shall see Him as He 
is." Like Him ! — My soul, 
art thou waitingfor this mani- 
festation of the sons of God? 



86 

Like Him ! — Hast thou 
caught up any faint resem- 
blance to that all-glorious 
image ? Having this hope in 
thee, art thou purifying thy- 
self, even as He is pure ? Be 
much with Jesus now, that 
thou mayest exult in meeting 
Him hereafter. Thus, taking 
Him as thy Guide and Por- 
tion in life, thou mayest lay 
thee down in thy dark and 
noisome cell, and look forward 
with triumphant hope to the 
dawn of a resurrection morn, 
saying, "What time I awake, 
I am still with thee ! " 

"REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



87 



[29th Day. 



£6 



HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED. 



n 



" There shall be no night there." — Kev. xxi. 25. 

My soul! is it 
night with thee 



A Sightless 
Heaven, 



here ? Art thou 
wearied with those midnight 
tossings on life's tumultuous 
sea ? Be still ! the day is 
breaking! soon shall thy 
Lord appear. " His going 
forth is prepared as the 
morning." That glorious 
appearing shall disperse every 
cloud, and usher in an eter- 
nal noontide which knows 
no twilight. " Thy sun shall 
no more go down, neither 
shall thy moon withdraw 



88 

itself; for the Lord shall 
be thine everlasting light." 
Everlasting light ! Won- 
drons secret of a nightless 
world ! — the glories of a 
present God!— the everlast- 
ing light of the Three in 
One, quenching the radiance 
of all created orbs — super- 
seding all material lumin- 
aries. " My soul waiteth for 
the Lord more than they 
that watch for the morning!" 
The haven is nearing — star 
after star is quenched in 
more glorious effulgence — 
every bound over these dark 
waves is bringing thee nearer 
the eternal shore. Wilt thou 
not, then, humbly and pa- 



89 

tiently endure "weeping for 
the night/' in the prospect of 
the "joy that cometh in the 
morning ? " Strange real- 
ities ! a world without night 
— a firmament without a sun ; 
and, greater wonder still, 
thyself in this world, — a joy- 
ful denizen of this nightless, 
sinless, sorrowless, tearless 
heaven ! — basking under- 
neath the Fountain of un- 
created light! No exhaus- 
tion of glorified body and 
spirit to require repose; no 
lassitude or weariness to 
suspend the ever-deepening 
song : — " They rest not ! " 

« REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



90 



[30th Day. 



; 



HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED. 



?? 



" When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall 
receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." 

1 Peter v. 4. 



A Crown 
of Life. 



What ! is the 
beggar to be 
" raised from 
the dunghill, set among 
princes, and made to inherit a 
throne of glory ? " Is dust 
and ashes, a puny rebel, a 
guilty traitor, to be pitied, 
pardoned, loved, exalted from 
the depths of despair, raised 
to the heights of heaven — 
gifted with kingly honor — 
royally fed — royally clothed 
— royally attended — and, at 
last, royally crowned ? O 
my soul ! look forward with 



91 

joyous emotion to that day 
of wonders, when He whose 
head shall be crowned with 
many crowns, shall he the 
dispenser of royal diadems 
to His people ; and when 
they shall begin the joyful 
ascription of all eternity : 
" Unto Him that loved us, 
and washed us from our sins 
in His own blood, and has 

made us Kings ; to Him 

be glory and dominion for 
ever and ever. Amen ! " 
Wilt thou not be among the 
number ? Shall the princes 
and monarchs of the earth 
wade through seas of blood 
for a corruptible crown, and 
wilt thou permit thyself to 



92 

lose the incorruptible, or 
barter it for some perishable 
nothings of earth ? Oh ! that 
thou wouldst awake to thy 
high destiny, and live up to 
thy transcendent privileges 
as a citizen of a kingly com- 
monwealth, a member of the 
blood-royal of heayen. What 
wouldst thou not sacrifice, 
— what effort wouldst thou 
grudge, if thou wert included 
at last in the gracious bene- 
diction : "Come, ye blessed 
of my Father, inherit the 
kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the 
world ? " 

"REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!" 



93 



[31st Day. 

"HE IS FAITHFUL THAT PROMISED." 



" God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; 
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor 
crying, neither shall there be any more pain ; for the 
former things are passed away." — Rev. xxi. 3, 4. 

Gloeiou s 

consumma- 



The Vision 

and Fruition 

of God. 



tion ! All the 
other glories 
of heaven are but emanations 
from this glory that excel- 
leth. Here is the focus and 
centre to which every ray of 
light converges. God is "all 
in all." Heaven without God! 
— it would send a thrill of 
dismay through the burning 
ranks of angels and arch- 
angels; it would dim every 



94 



eye, and hush every harp, 
and change the whitest robe 
into sackcloth. And shall I, 
then, indeed, " see God f " 
What ! shall I gaze' on these 
inscrutable glories, and live ? 
Yes, "God himself shall be 
with them, and be their God ;" 
they shall " see Mis face ! ■ 
And not only the vision, but 
the fruition. Oh! how does 
sin in my holiest moments 
damp the enjoyment of Him ! 
It is the " pure in heart ' ! 
alone who can " see," far 
more, who can enjoy " God." 
Even if He did reveal him- 
self note, these eyes could 
never endure His intolerable 
brightness. But then, with 



95 

a heart purified from cor- 
ruption — a world where the 
taint of sin and the power of 
temptation never enter — the 
soul again a bright mirror, 
reflecting the lost image of 
the Godhead — all the affec- 
tions devoted to their origi- 
nal high destiny — the love of 
God the motive principle, the 
ruling passion — the glory of 
God the undivided object 
and aim — the will no oppos- 
ing or antagonist bias, — man 
will, for the first time, know 
all the blessedness of his 
chief end, — " to glorify God, 
and to enjoy Him for ever !" 

" REMEMBER THIS WORD UNTO THY 

SERVANT, UPON WHICH THOU 

HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE ! " 



ALL 



THE PROMISES OF GOD 



IN HIM 



ARE YEA AND IN HIM 



AM EN 



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